Today we took a significant step towards building our consumer healthcare business globally!
We have signed an agreement to acquire the global brand Nicotinell and its local market-leading brand names Nicabate, Habitrol and Thrive in markets outside of the United States from Haleon plc. The portfolio falls in the Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) category. The portfolio to be acquired has an extensive footprint in over 30 countries globally, spanning Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and Latin America. Nicotinell is the second biggest brand globally (excluding the United States) in the NRT category, ranks among the top 15 biggest brands among all OTC brands in Europe (excluding Russia, Italy), and ranks 32 among all OTC global brands (excluding the U.S.). NRT is recommended by the ‘World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines’ for nicotine use disorders. NRT also played a key role in the WHO’s ‘Access Initiative for Quitting Tobacco’ launched in 2020 to help tobacco users quit to reduce the risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection.
We continue to focus on our core business of generics, branded generics, API, OTC, and biosimilars. Alongside this, we have been investing in growth drivers of the future in three areas – access to novel molecules (NCEs, NBEs, CAR-T); digital therapeutics (wearables, apps); and consumer healthcare (including nutrition and OTC wellness products). Under consumer healthcare, in recent years, we have increased our presence in consumer healthcare (nutrition and OTC wellness) in markets around the world including the U.S., UK, Emerging Markets and India, including a recent joint venture with Nestlé India. The acquisition of this global portfolio of consumer healthcare products led by the global brand Nicotinell is a logical extension of these efforts. Given the strong and steady performance of this portfolio over the years and its global advantages, it is the ideal anchor around which to build a larger global OTC platform.
